


when was the last time you saw the sky?

by bluewritessometimes



Category: Once Upon a Time (In Space) - The Mechanisms (Album), The Mechanisms (Band), Ulysses Dies at Dawn - The Mechanisms (Album)
Genre: Character Study, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Stargazing, i guess?, not scientifically accurate but it IS canon complaint so u know where my priorities are, that's it that's the fic. it's just album characters stargazing /hj, the supernova is trans colors i hope u appreciate that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:28:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29989077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluewritessometimes/pseuds/bluewritessometimes
Summary: technically, the supernova happened at 15:37 official space time on the third tuesday in august, 99008 second common era. but as any of the scientists studying the abnormally large explosion will tell you, light travels slowly in comparison to most other means of transportation in this universe. so only the scientists saw the supernova right when it actually happened. the rest of the universe saw it decades and centuries after the fact, the light from a star that had died thousands of years ago just now reaching their eyes.or: because of how light travels, it's conceivably possible that characters who lived years apart all saw the same supernova.
Relationships: (could be read as romantic too tbh), (there's just nothing Explicitly Romantic so.), Narcissus & Orpheus (Ulysses Dies at Dawn)
Kudos: 5
Collections: Mechs Album Week





	1. i look to the stars (my loves)

**Author's Note:**

> hiiii it's album week and i think about space too much 
> 
> originally this was going to be for the free day, but then it got... long, and i didn't have anything else written for some of the days SO! here we are!
> 
> cws: brief references to family arguments/disfunction, mild neck injury
> 
> title is from our lady of the underground (hadestown) because guess what i've been listening to on loop djbjsf  
> i'm trying to have all the chapter titles be from mechs songs but we'll. see how well that pans out.

echnically, the supernova happened at 15:37 official space time on the third tuesday in august, 99008 second common era. but as any of the scientists studying the abnormally large explosion will tell you, light travels slowly in comparison to most other means of transportation in this universe. so only the scientists saw the supernova right when it actually happened. the rest of the universe saw it decades and centuries after the fact, the light from a star that had died thousands of years ago just now reaching their eyes. 

. 

cinders is nine, her too-thin limbs shaking with the effort to hoist herself up into the tree in her backyard. her stepsisters are arguing again. she doesn’t know what about, and she doesn’t care, she just knows that arguing means loud noises and crying and sometimes hitting, depending on how mad her father gets. and she knows that she needs to get out of the house before it escalates. 

so she’s here, hiding in the biggest tree in her backyard, staring at the stars through a gap in the branches. it’s especially clear tonight. her father says the stars aren’t always visible because of factories, which doesn’t make much sense to cinders, because factories are down on the ground and stars are up in the sky. but whatever the reason, it must not be working tonight, because she can see all the stars in dizzying clarity. it feels like if she were to climb just a little higher, she could reach out and grab them and bring them home. 

but she doesn’t try to. she did once, when she was very little, but it didn’t work and she just ended up falling out of the tree and scraping her knee. 

her mother had to explain gravity to her, after that.

_her mother._

if she looks hard enough, she can make out a face in the sky. the larger stars making up the eyes, the longer, spilling stars making the slightly smiling mouth. the other stars around them are freckles, like the ones her mother had, like the ones she has inherited, although neither of those glow like the sky’s freckles. she think it’d be prettier if they did, though. she could be her own nightlight. 

not that she needs it tonight, seeing how bright it is. it’s never this bright at night- even on the clearer nights before, she’s never been able to see this much. usually it’s just vague silhouettes and faint colors, not the oddly blue hue that tints the entire garden tonight.

is this a bad thing? cinders doesn’t know much about how the sky works, despite her years of staring up at it. the blue light is pretty, but most pretty things mean something bad, she reflects. maybe the blue light is a sign of something. one of her stepsisters- the one who always wears pants to formal events, she’s pretty sure- is always going on about signs of the apocalypse. cinders never listens, because it’s stupid, the world is never going to end, but what if she’s right? was blue light on the list of signs she keeps rattling out? cinders can’t remember. 

she supposes if the world does end (even though it won’t, because that’s not how worlds work), staring up at the stars isn’t a bad way to go. better than the alternative, at least, which is sitting inside listening to her sisters argue while she desperately tries to pretend it isn’t happening. 

but she might as well look around for the source of the light, just in case. it’s good to know things, she thinks. especially things about the sky. she’s going to need that kind of thing once she finally finds a way to leave this awful planet.

(because she is going to leave, isn’t she? she’s never properly considered it before, but in this moment, she knows that it’s exactly what she needs to do. the stars are her one true companions, fixed points of brightness in an otherwise confusing and frustrating world, so it only makes sense that they’d be her saviors as well. 

how she’ll leave is a question for another day. she knows vaguely there are ways to get off-planet- she’s seen the massive machines, belching smoke and loud noises, that transport scientists off the planet. but those are options for diplomats and warriors and cosmonauts, not little princes who are supposed to stay on the ground and marry another little prince and grow up to be a fancy king.

 _princess_ , she corrects herself. she can be a princess out here.)

anyways. finding where the light came from.

it’s not very hard to find once she cranes her neck to the left, far enough back that she thinks for a second she might break it. she doesn’t actually know if it’s possible to break a neck- she knows she can break legs and arms and hips, but maybe other parts of the body are just more durable.

the light is coming from what looks like an explosion, arching across the sky in flashes of white and blue. but it’s not fast, like the explosions she’s seen on the streams or the way her father describes them. it’s slow, which feels… safer, somehow. it can’t possibly hurt her if it’s this slow. she can always run.

but she doesn’t think it _will_ hurt her. which might be a stupid thing to think- certainly her father would tell her so, that she shouldn’t just decide that something is safe because it looks that way. but all the same. the light is in the sky, and the sky is far away and nothing from the sky can come down and hurt you even if it wants to. not that it _would_ want to, because the stars are nice like that. 

she continues to watch in awe as the lights dance across the sky, brilliant shades of blue and white and pink and colors she can’t even begin to name. she’s never seen anything like this before, and she wants to take it all in, remember everything before it disappears. 

she hopes she won’t forget.

it would be very bad if she forgot. 

she leans a little farther back, trying to see if there’s any more of the explosion. maybe she can try to find where it’s coming from, if it is coming from anywhere. which of course it is. these things don't just come from nowhere. 

there's nothing there, though, just more dazzling pink and white and blue and light in a dizzying array of colors that shift and hum and sing, and she's never seen anything so beautiful and she never knew the sky could be this gorgeous and she needs needs needs to see more. 

she becomes aware of a sharp, aching pain in her arm and a dull throbbing in her head, and she realizes with a start that she must have fallen. the tree's leaves are silhouetted against the odd blue light, casting shadows across her face. 

her arm _hurts._ the palace courtyard doesn't exactly provide the softest landing- it looks like it's covered in neatly trimmed grass (to impress the guests, she assumes) but just underneath is hard concrete that she's scraped her knees on more than a few times. nothing seems to be bleeding, not that she can see, anyway, but her arm and head are still throbbing with pain and it takes all her willpower not to cry. 

ow. 

the explosion still continues overhead, oblivious to cinders’s pain. there are starbursts starting to form at the edge of her vision, and she’s not sure if it’s because of the pain or staring at the light for too long or just plain exhaustion- it was late when she came out to the yard, and she’s not sure how long she’s been out there. time is already hard to keep track of when she has an actual clock in front of her. 

there is still arguing coming from inside. 

but that’s okay. she doesn’t mind just lying here for now. the initial shock of pain is wearing down, giving way to a cold numbness that’s almost calming, in a way. she can watch the stars. she can lie here with her probably-broken arm and watch the stars.

at some point she must fall asleep, because the next thing she knows it’s nearly morning, the dawn peaking through the leaves of the tree she’s still lying below. her stepsister- the blonde- is screeching her name, telling her that she’s been gone all night and she better not have run away because her father is going to be really mad if he has to chase her down again. 

the explosion is gone. not surprising, considering the sun is almost up and overpowering any other lights in the sky, but still. it’s a bit disappointing, to know that it’s gone for good now. 

oh well. nothing she can really do about it.

her stepsister leans over her, her gray eyes full of false concern. ‘are you alright?’ 

‘fine,’ cinders mumbles, trying to sit up and immediately regretting it.

‘good.’ she straightens back up, yells something vaguely in the direction of the house, and starts to turn away. ‘you’d better be out of there by breakfast. mama’s making eggs and you know those taste bad cold.’

and with that, she’s gone again. 

cinders should follow her. get her arm looked at by the doctor, eat her eggs, wash up her clothes that have gotten covered in grass. whatever magic the explosion had cast last night, it was gone now, and now she’s just a princess (prince, she has to be a prince soon) with a broken arm and a dirty sweater and a sister yelling at her to come inside.

but she will return. she’ll go out to watch the sky again tomorrow. even if the explosion isn’t there, she’ll still hope that the stars will cast their spell again tomorrow night. 

she will continue to look to the stars.


	2. and then i broke the law

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me voice i can totally finish writing all of these chapters within a week. john mulany voice and then i DIDN'T
> 
> anyway i am going to finish this it just might take,, a bit longer!! than intended!! djbjsf
> 
> this takes place a couple months after orpheus & narcissus first meet <3 i don't think this chapter needs any cws but lmk if you need me to add something !

orpheus is going to break the law. 

this is far from the first time he’s done it- hell, his whole job isn’t the most legal operation, with the amount of tax fraud dionysus has committed- but this time is different. it was a premeditated decision, made with full knowledge that it was illegal and the consequences if he’s caught. not that it makes much difference to what could generously be called law enforcement, but it feels different to him. 

it’s not even a particularly _bad_ crime. it’s one of those things that is widely regarded as a stupid law, even though only a few people would actually risk it to try and demonstrate this view. it’s not something he needs to feel _morally_ bad about, which is good, because he doesn’t. but still. 

he’s nervous.

the building two streets down from his coworker narcissus’s house is one of athena’s labs, designed to be able to view the sky from various angles. there was a name for it, narcissus had told him once, but he didn’t remember. and it didn’t matter. the point was, the lab was tall enough that it stretched all the way up to the sky. the real sky, not the dirty black soot that orpheus usually saw. and more importantly, the lab was almost always empty.

so he was going to break in. or not break in, really- the door was already unlocked, he’d checked. he was going to enter the building, and go up to the roof, and watch the stars. according to dionysus, they were supposed to extra bright tonight. 

it was a risky idea, for sure. if athena chose that night to come back to her lab, or if she checked the security cameras, or if there were guards in place- he’d be arrested again. and he wasn’t sure dionysus would try to break him out this time. but he was trying not to think to hard about that. he’d get through it better if he wasn’t thinking about all the possible ways he could die. 

and that’s what he’s trying to do now, having just been let off from work and standing on the second floor of the lab. he hasn’t found the elevator yet. there has to be an elevator. there’s no way they expected people to _walk_ all the way up. 

there is a large hole in all of the floors, forming a perfect circle that orpheus can stare up and see all the way to the roof. what _that’s_ for, orpheus doesn’t even want to know. but it’s not like he can jump _up_ to the roof, so he keeps looking. 

he finds the elevator eventually, nestled between some scientific instruments orpheus doesn’t even know the name for. it’s surprisingly slow- usually the elevators in buildings frequented by olympians are faster- but it gets him where he needs to go, and that’s all that matters. 

the roof is slanted slightly, but the angle isn’t steep enough that he’s too worried about falling. of course he’s a bit worried. he always is. but the roof holds his weight and keeps him from slipping, and after a bit more scuffling and curses he’s able to lie back on the roof and stare up at the sky.

and it’s-

it’s so much more gorgeous than orpheus could have ever imagined, a swirling mix of purples and blacks and stars glowing like faraway eyes. and it’s _shifting,_ too- he’s only ever experienced the sky as a static thing, endless gray with no break- but this sky moves and changes as comets streak across it and the stars slowly inch their way down. it feels like a sky that goes on forever, a sky that orpheus could spend lifetimes trying to chart and still not discover all of it.

it’s entirely worth getting caught, if he does. 

he can feel himself trying to hum out a tune, and he wishes he’d brought his lyre- he’d love to write a song about this. although, that would mean exposing that he’d _seen_ the stars, and even with how much press he was sure to get once he became famous, there were still some things that needed to stay private. and it’s not much good to write a song for yourself. people will always go on about making art just for yourself, about not putting pressure on yourself, but they don’t understand. art is created to be shared. if you don’t make art for some kind of audience, it becomes dull, frustrating, monotonous. orpheus knew that all too well. 

still. he wishes that there was _someone_ he could share this with. 

he also wishes that he brought a jacket.

it’s fucking _freezing_ up here. 

he sighs and settles further into the roof, almost scraping his elbow on a loose shingle, and continues to gaze up at the sky.

the more he looks, the more he sees- every time he thinks he’s gotten used to the view, there’s a subtle shift, and everything is _different_ again. there are stars, obviously, but also points that glow brighter than the stars, and stars that move, and glowing lines that could be from anything from the satellites circling the city to bits of space dust. it’s all so _much._

but of course, the thing that keeps drawing orpheus’s eyes is the huge explosion off to the right. he’s not quite sure what it is- maybe some kind of collision of the satellites? he’d read somewhere that that sort of thing happened fairly often, with how much they put up there and how hard it was to get back down. but he’d always imagined those explosions as a quick, firey red combination of dust and fire that was over before it even happened. this one almost looked like a painting, the pinks and blues mixing together like spilled paint. and it just keeps going, too- he’ll think it’s over, and then there’s another flash of blue and the whole thing starts over again. 

it’s hypnotizing. 

enough so that he doesn’t hear the second figure climbing up to the roof and sitting down next to him.

‘i didn’t take you for the stargazing type.’

orpheus nearly jumps out of his skin, squeaking out some excuse about getting lost on his way home as he scrambles to regain his balance. ‘it’s not- i didn’t-’

‘calm down, you silly old thing. it’s just me.’

orpheus relaxes slightly as he realizes who it is- narcissus, his coworker and… friend? do they count as friends? sure, they were friendly to each other at work, but narcissus was one of those people that you could never really picture having any kind of personal life. it was all image, and _friends_ didn’t really fit into that image.

oh well. either way, narcissus probably didn’t come up here to rat him out.

‘i didn’t exactly take you as the kind to break the law,’ orpheus retorts. ‘what are you doing up here?’

‘stargazing, same as you. unless you’ve found some other use for this roof i haven’t.’

‘no, i’m… stargazing. too. i’m just surprised to see you up here, is all.’ 

‘so am i, to be honest with you. i don’t think i’ve seen you up here before.’

‘you’ve been up here before?’

‘almost every night. this is one of the only places in the city with a decent view of the sky.’

'oh.' orpheus digested this. 'why would you want… i mean, i didn't think you'd be interested in this sort of thing?' 

'why _wouldn't_ i be interested? honestly, old thing, you've seen that sky, do you think that i'd see it once and then never think about it again?'

'fair enough, i suppose.' the sky _was_ unlike anything orpheus had ever seen, although he hadn't really considered the possibility of going back yet. it was nerve-wracking enough to break the law once. 'how did you find this place in the first place, though?' 

'oh, i've always had an interest in what this planet was like before it was the city,' said narcissus, waving his hand vaguely. 'once i discovered this was here, i almost _had_ to go up.'

orpheus hadn't really thought about what the city was before it was the city, now that he thought about it. it wasn't the kind of history that was taught in schools, or anywhere else for that matter, and orpheus figured it was best not to worry about things he couldn't learn more about. it kept him from doing stupid things like climbing onto the roof of an olympian's lab. 

orpheus rubbed his arms again. 'is it usually this cold up here?' 

'almost always. not in the summer, though.' narcissus startles. ‘did you not bring a coat?’

‘no! i didn’t _think_ it was going to be this cold!’

‘oh. well i could give you mine, i suppose.’

‘you _could_?’

‘well if i did, then _i’d_ be cold.’

orpheus can’t tell if he’s kidding or not. ‘don’t be ridiculous. here-’ he pulls narcissus’s coat down slightly, adjusting it so that it’s laying over both of their shoulders. it does a ridiculously ineffective job of blocking out the cold, and if anything it makes the wind blow harder in their direction, almost knocking the coat out of their hands.

‘there,’ orpheus says, after semi-successfully getting the coat to stay put. ‘now we’re both cold.’

that gets a genuine laugh out of narcissus, which startles orpheus slightly. ‘that’s a horribly ineffective solution, old thing,’ but he doesn’t try to change anything about their arrangement. 

‘did you know that one of the constellations is called pegasus?’ narcissus asks after a pause. 

‘like the robot?’

‘i don’t know. i’d assume so, but i think they were named even before those prototypes were rolled out.’

‘maybe the robot was named after the constellation.’

‘maybe so. quite frankly, i don’t think the developers know enough about the stars to even think about naming one of their robots after them, but you never know.’

‘suppose not.’

they both fall silent after that, watching the stars and the explosion overhead. orpheus doesn’t bother to ask how narcissus knows about the names of these constellations, or how he found out about the roof of the lab in the first place. he’s curious, sure, but he knows narcissus well enough now that orpheus doesn’t think it’s likely that he’ll give a straight answer. besides, it does feel slightly wrong to be worrying about things like logic up here. which does sound a bit pretentious, now that he tries to put it into words, but what is a poet if not a bit pretentious?

oh, that was good. he should save that for a song someday. 

he doesn’t pay attention to how long he stays up there, but it must be at least hours, because the sky is getting lighter when narcissus shakes him and reminds him that they have to go back to work soon.

‘are you going to come back, do you think?’ he asks as orpheus fiddles with the buttons on the elevator. 

orpheus shrugs. ‘i mean, i wouldn’t want to… i mean, it does seem like… i just, it does seem like a personal thing for you, and i wouldn’t want to-’

‘what, intrude? no, you’re alright. i mean-’ he pauses. ‘it is. personal. but i don’t really mind you being there, if you’d like to.’

‘oh.’ orpheus isn’t sure how to respond to that. it’s still hard to grapple with the idea of narcissus having _anything_ personal, much less personal things he’d want to share with orpheus. ‘i… i suppose so, then. probably not every night. but i see what you mean about the planet before it was the city. it’s certainly very enthralling.’ 

narcissus’s eyes light up. ‘it is, isn’t it? there’s not much information on it, but what i’ve been able to find…’ he stretches an arm out for emphasis, almost falling over in the process. ‘it was _gorgeous_.’

orpheus snickers. ‘yeah, i bet.’

the elevator doors open at the first floor- _weren’t they on the second floor before?-_ and narcissus steps out onto the street. 

‘i’ll see you at work, old thing, yes?’ narcissus pats orpheus on the shoulder. ‘you might want to get some sleep first, though. we have-’ he checks his watch- ‘two hours, probably.’

orpheus realizes just how tired he is. he must have slept on the rooftop, probably, but it wasn’t much, and roof shingles do not make a good mattress. ‘right, i’ll do that. you too.’

narcissus nods and disappears into the alleyway near the lab, and it’s like he was never there.

well, orpheus decides. that was far too many emotions for one night.

time to get some actually fucking sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was going to work in something about pegasus being the only constellation narcissus knows but it wouldn't fit pensive emoji. but. i thought you should know that pegasus is the only constellation narcissus knows it's Important

**Author's Note:**

> don't try this at home kids!! if you fall out of a tree please seek medical attention
> 
> anyway trans cinders rights <3 i care her so much
> 
> also i'm very committed to the stargazing thing despite two of the albums explicitly not having access to the sky. i will figure this out. i have my ways.


End file.
